Bell tolls for EU hauliers

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

The economic respite for the transport industry will be cut short for UK hauliers who travel through the EU due to increasing toll charges. Eurocrats announced yesterday plans to increase toll charges by 30 per cent to help combat noise and air pollution.

Algirdas Šemeta, EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union to the European Tax Policy Forum and Centre for European Policy Studies, stated, “Our objective is less about introducing a new tax than about restructuring energy taxation.”

UK Hauliers who operate in Europe are already charged a 18p per kilometre as part of EU law, however European transport companies are not charged for using UK roads.

Kate Gibbs of the Road Haulage Association said: “This will just be horrendous. We have to pay tolls when we go to Europe, but their lorry drivers don’t when they come here, as well as more in petrol and diesel tax.

“Hauliers are already operating at the very tightest possible margins. A 30 per cent rise in toll charges is too big to absorb. Consumers will see it passed on as the cost of all goods in all shops will rise.”

These costs will likely have a knock on effect on the wider public; critics have argued this would increase the price of food and other imported goods.

Ice cold eco

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

This absolute beast is making headlines as the custom truck taking on the land speed record for reaching the South Pole. The previous record of 2 days 21 hours and 21 minutes is the time to beat for the team sponsored by Thomson Reuters. Their success depends on the Polar Performance Vehicle, which has been specifically designed for the challenge.

The truck has been built by the Artic Trucks of Iceland, responsible for the customised Toyota that was featured in the Polar Special episode on Top Gear. Whilst it seems to be cut from the same cloth, it’s the trucks green credentials that make it truly unique. The trucks packs a 4.0 litre V6 with 340hp, capable of running on a yet to be revealed bio-fuel. If for any reason the engine dies the truck can then make use of solar cells and a wind-powered generator to pick up the slack.

The Shiply team wishes them Godspeed!

Financial support for London’s white van men

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced the introduction of a van exchange scheme, with the backing of several van manufacturers, ahead of the planned changes to the Low Emission Zone next year. Citroën, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and Volkswagen are all taking part in the scheme and will be offering reductions as incentives to upgrade to their greener, more efficient fleets.

Beginning Jan 3, 2012, those who drive older commercial vehicles that do not meet the requirements of the stricter emissions standard will be subject to a hefty fee. A daily fee of £100 will be charged along with a potential £500 penalty.

In his typically bombastic style, Boris remarked,  that vans were the lifeblood of London: “Their drivers are knights of the road, an army of entrepreneurs who decorate our homes, fix our plumbing, and generally provide all the vital goods and services essential to the smooth running of our city.” He went on to say, “This noble bunch is mostly small business owners and independent traders who are focused on grafting hard to support their families and build a better future.

“The vast majority of people who are affected by these new changes have upgraded their vehicles and need not take any action but for those remaining people I know these are difficult times and that their vehicles are essential for their livelihoods.”

Do you currently own a older commercial vehicle in London, if so, how soon are you looking to exchange to a newer model – if at all?

You can find out whether your vehicle is affected by the new LEZ standards here.

Will and Kate push the envelope

Posted on by Anthony Marriage
If it isn’t commemorative crockery, it’s Royal top trumps – you cannot move for Will and Kate related merchandise as the Royal Wedding looms closer. Keen to get in on the action, the Royal Mail will be issuing commemorative stamps of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The formal picture was taken in the Council Chamber of St James’s Palace in London and the “informal” image shows the couple in the Palace’s Cornwall room.
“We are honored to be celebrating this very special and historic occasion,” said the Royal Mail’s Stephen Agar. “We believe that that this set of stamps will be very popular with people both in the U.K. and around the world.”
You can bang down the doors of you local Post Office on April 21st, 8 days before the Royal Wedding. Plenty of time to send post to your jealous friends across the globe.

Shiply celebrates 500,000th listing!

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a Monday morning the Shiply team may have cracked open a bottle of champers to celebrate reaching our massive milestone of 500,000 listings. We are ecstatic to have reached such a large number of listings within such a short amount of time, since our launch in June 2008.




We would like to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to all the transport providers and users who have used Shiply to make it what it is today.

It won’t be too long before we’re all celebrating the millionth!

Thanks again, from everyone at Shiply.

Improvements to Home Removals

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

As of today, Shiply has updated and improved the home removals section. The exciting changes will benefit users and transport providers alike, making the process of home removals on Shiply a whole lot smoother.

Transport providers will notice that Moving Home listings will now include additional information in the listing details. Also, users are now highly recommended to fill out the inventory form before the listing is created. Importantly, all Moving Home listings calculate and display the approximate volume of the entire inventory of the listed contents. This means transport providers will now have a better image of what each house move requires and subsequently be able to provide more accurate quotes.


Users can expect to see more information from prospective transport providers, including the number of porters being employed to the type of vehicle being used. House move quotes will include vehicle types with accompanying illustrative pictures of the vehicle. All these changes will hopefully mean less confusion and a more efficient house move process on Shiply.


We hope you find these changes useful and as ever we welcome any feedback or suggestions for future changes.

Penny at the pump

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

Yesterday offered a rare moment of relief for British motorists and the transport industry in the 2011 budget outlined by George Osborne. The “Ford Focus Budget” cut fuel duty by 1p as of last night. Osborne stated that over the last 6 months the cost of “filling up a family car such as a Ford Focus has increased by £10” and that the cuts made in the budget were a reflection of this hardship.

In conjunction with the 1p fuel duty cut there will also be a freeze on the planned 5p fuel duty tax increase in April. This means that 6p in fuel duty has been cut and on average hauliers can expect to save £1500 per truck per year.
George Osborne also announced, “the fuel duty escalator, that adds an extra penny on top of inflation every year, will be cancelled,” he said, “not just for this year, or next year, but for the rest of this Parliament…It’s about doing what we can to help with the high cost of living and the high cost of oil.”
Geoff Dunning, RHA chief executive, commented, “this result demonstrates just how effective a clearly organised political campaign can be, and I am thrilled that the voices of hauliers have not only been heard, but acted on. I expected one of the best results would be scrapping the April duty rise, so to actually get a fuel duty cut is a welcome, but shock, surprise.”
Whilst this is certainly a step in the right direction, there have been reports from the public that petrol stations were guilty of increasing prices on Wednesday morning to counteract the cut. This is indicative of the international fuel market as a whole – taxes can be cut yet ultimately the prices at the pump are at the discretion of oil companies.
What are your thoughts on the budget and the fuel duty cuts?

Fuel duty increase blocked by tax windfall?

Posted on by Anthony Marriage
Economic analysts and experts have predicted that the £8billion tax windfall will announced in tomorrow’s budget. The increase in fuel duty over the past year has naturally hit motorists and the transport industry alike. At the same time, North Sea oil companies have also been subject to a higher rate of corporation tax. A combination of decreased spending and larger than expected revenue has created the surplus windfall. As a result, chancellor George Osborne could potentially announce a halt on the proposed April 1 fuel tax increase.
Mr Osborne told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday. “Having undertaken the rescue mission last year, I don’t have to come back and ask for more this year. So I can say in the Budget this week I am not going to be asking for more tax increases or more spending cuts.”
Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Item Club, said: ‘We are at the start of a very long and treacherous road and there will be many more obstacles to negotiate before the government’s finances are restored to balance. Given how wary the chancellor has been of sending the wrong signals to the financial markets we expect him to hold back the bulk of the windfall to guard against potential slippage later on.’
This suggests that the proposal is by no means set in stone and is of course subject to change, especially given the fragility to the economic climate.